What’s Gotta Stay

For those that have known me through my association with Donny Osmond, you know I have enjoyed working with him on a variety of projects for his fans. Most notably I have enjoyed the opportunity to do a lot of photography, which has been a big part of my learning to become a better photographer along the way. If you do not know the history of how my book project with Donny came about, let me know and I’ll share it on a future post.

Earlier this year I began talking to Donny about a new idea I wanted to try, specifically to create a behind the scenes DVD that reached further than anything previously done. Much like the book, the emphasis would be to provide a perspective and insight to the fans not typically achieved. I wanted to tell the story of the fans as well, with insight from the long time and more recent fans, what it is like to be on tour and to follow Donny on tour. The ideas began flowing the more I talked about it, and Donny thought it was a great idea so it was put into motion.

Now remember I am a self-taught photographer, and video is a different animal. Midway through the developmental process I began feeling uneasy about my ability to pull of the project at the level I wanted to. I am always confident in my ability to learn new things, but life is different for me now compared to when I did the book project. Taking the time off to travel plus the complexity of learning the art of videography was beginning to look daunting. Along with that, I just couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that I shouldn’t be going on this trip.

Fortunately I have a friend that is much more skilled than I when it comes to camera work, so I gave him a call. He has the same passion for video work as I do for still photo work. Unfortunately he didn’t see how he could take the time off either, though he loved the idea of the project. After a couple of months of wearing him down though, he managed to find a way to make it work.

I am really grateful this worked out because of the recent problems with my son’s health, which would have precluded me going anyway. I would have been scrambling to try and find someone to take my place.

So, for those Donny fans that read here periodically, I introduce Jarond Suman who is boarding a plane tomorrow to join the UK tour to take what I am sure will be some amazing footage. I am very excited for this project to take shape, and a big part of it’s success will be Jarond’s interactions with you as fans. Look for him over there and have fun.

I’ll talk a bit more about the project as things go along, so watch for more details here and at Donny.com. This is going to be a very cool video that I hope a lot of people will enjoy. We are also planning on putting together a small tour book to go along with it, so my photography will also be a small part of it.

As always, I welcome your feedback and ideas to make this a better production!

Tags: donny osmond, photography, video